ST. PAUL, MN – Today, the Minnesota Legislature convened for a one-day Special Session to approve $4.5 million in disaster relief refunding for 18 southern and central Minnesota counties damaged by storms in June. In addition, lawmakers re-appropriated funds to counties impacted by the 2013 ice storm.
The 2013 Disaster Relief Bill does not appropriate any new funds and has zero impact on the General Fund. The bill also does not provide additional funding for counties not included in a declaration area. The disaster relief bill passed in the House after initially moving through the Senate.
“No matter where disaster strikes in our state, we come together to help our neighbors regardless of our political viewpoints,” said state Representative Mary Sawatzky (DFL – Willmar). “This summer’s severe storms caused damage throughout our state and while District 17B was not included in the disaster area, our neighbors were and they need our help.”
Rep. Sawatzky co-authored a bill to repeal the tax on farm equipment repairs. The bill was not part of a special session agreement between legislative leaders and Governor Dayton and was not voted on. Republican leaders blocked a proposal introduced by DFL leaders to repeal the farm equipment tax and insisted on a larger group of tax cuts without a plan to pay for them.
“I had hoped we could have used this opportunity to help hardworking farmers in our area, and advocated strongly for its repeal,” said Rep. Sawatzky. “Our farmers have had to deal with a lot the last year: drought, a long winter, and then wet conditions that made it more difficult to plant crops. I will continue to push for the repeal of this tax and hope we can do it next session.”
According to data from the Department of Revenue, the farm equipment repair tax, which went into effect on July 1 of this year, will cost $28 million over two years. The bill would repeal that particular tax without any further adjustments because of extra reserves built into the balance budget that was passed in late May. As a result, Minnesota would preserve its first structurally balanced budget since before the Great Recession.
Rep. Sawatzky also supports a bill that would delay the implementation of the warehouse tax until January 2015 with a full repeal after that if there is still a surplus once our schools have been paid back.
“The legislature did a lot of good last session: all-day kindergarten, a college tuition freeze, property tax relief, job creation measures, early childhood scholarships, and more affordable health care,” said Rep. Sawatzky. “I look forward to continuing that great work with my colleagues next session and am hopeful we can work together to repeal these taxes and pursue meaningful reforms.”
Lawmakers will reconvene next on February 25 for the 2014 legislative session.
Rep. Sawatzky encourages constituents to contact her with any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas on Special Session or any legislative topic. Rep. Sawatzky can be reached by phone at 651-296-6206 or by email at rep.mary.sawatzky@house.mn. Constituents can also visit Rep. Sawatzky’s AreaVoices blog, legislative page and sign up for email updates.